Evaluation of Insulin Resistance in Hepatitis C Infected Thalassemia Children and Survivors of Childhood Malignancy

Abstract

Hepatitis C is a major cause of liver related morbidity and mortality worldwide and represents a major public health problem, Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been associated with a number of extrahepatic manifestations, one of these manifestations is insulin resistance. Hepatitis C virus appears to contribute, directly or indirectly, to the development of IR .IR is not only a precursor to diabetes, but also independently associated with significant morbidity, including hypertension and coronary heart disease. The presence of IR in the setting of hepatitis C infection is of particular importance, because it also plays a role in the progression of HCV-related liver disease and may be associated with suboptimal responses to antiviral therapy. The main aim of this work is to find possible relation between the occurrence of insulin resistance in hepatitis C virus infected children who were either thalassemic or survivors of childhood malignancy. This cross-sectional case- control study conducted on 60 hepatitis C virus infected children (30 patients were thalassemic and 30 were survivors of childhood malignancy) and 30 controls who were neither HCV infected nor diabetics. They were recruited from Pediatric hematology and oncology clinics, Children’s Hospital, Ain Shams University.